A Trip Well DeservedWiseGirl25yenandrew
by yen.andrew
Summary: Chiron has decided to give the demigod heros a break well over due. Follow the heros on their various adventures along the east coast both in and out of their RV of fun and humor.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first FanFiction.**

**This story was at first written by WiseGirl25... but then I took over.**

**Hope you enjoy it!  
**

* * *

**Percy POV**

I was walking with my best friends Annabeth and Grover when all of a sudden Travis and Connor Stoll come running over to us.

"Hey guys what's going on?" Annabeth asked.

"Chiron is calling a meeting in the Big House and he wants you and Percy to come," replied Travis.

"OK we're coming." I told him.

"We'll meet up with ya later G-man."

"All right Perce. Later Annabeth."

We walked to the Big House with the Stolls, sat around the ping pong table, and took a minute to see who else was there. Annabeth, Travis, Connor, Katie, Silena, Beckendorf, Thalia, and Nico. Chiron then stood at the head of the table and addressed us all.

"Hello everyone. I have good news."

All of us turned our heads and started talking to those next to us wondering what it could be. We didnt get good news often so we were really excited.

Chiron coughed loudly and we looked back at him.

"Now as I was saying, all of you sitting here will be going on a road trip to various places on the east coast for a well deserved break."

We all jumped up and started cheering. This was great! A whole month not having to worry about anything godish? It was truly a dream come true.

"Where will we be going?" asked an ecstatic Connor.

"Well first to Vermont to go skiing and snowboarding, then Washington D.C. to go sightseeing, Florida to go to Disney, and then you will receive another surprise after that."

"Awesome!" replied Connor.

"OK so everyone get packing, you're leaving tomorrow morning.

We all jumped out of our seats ready to get this party started!


	2. Chapter 2

**Annabeth POV**

I ran back to my cabin to get everything ready. This was so exciting I get to go on an entire road trip with my best friendsand I was especially happy about going to D.C.! I grabbed my knapsack and started packing. Clean clothes, toiletries, a bathing suit, my ski clothes and boots, a sleeping bag and pillow (you never know), my Yankee cap, and my knife. Better safe than sorry right? I also decided to pack some nectar and ambrosia along with a bag of golden drachmas and 100 mortal dollars since I was being safe. I then lied down in bed and dreamt of the trip coming up.

* * *

**The next morning still Annabeth POV**

My alarm clock woke me up early as usual and I put on a pair of jeans and a light blue tank top with my converse. I ran a brush through my hair, grabbed my bag, and left my cabin. I ran past the other cabins and knocked on the door to the Poseidon cabin. I figured I should come here because I knew Percy had not packed yet and I wanted to make sure he had everything he would need.

The door opened to reveal a very tired looking Percy who was dressed in nothing but his boxers. I immediately felt my face heat up as I saw him.

"Um hi Percy."

"Hi Annabeth. What brings you here?"

"Well I thought that maybe you want help packing for the trip."

"I packed last night."

I was shocked. "Y-you packed already?"

"Hahahah no I'm just messing with you. Me packing ahead of time? As if that would ever happen."

I rolled my eyes at him but I couldn't help smiling a bit.

"You're so annoying. Can I come in and help you now?"

"Of course! Enter, enter." he told me as he opened the door wider and bowed.

Once again, I rolled my eyes and walked inside. He went to dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt.

"I'm gunna shower real quick. You know where everything is if you wanna start without me." he told me.

"OK Seaweed Brain just hurry up."

I walked over to his dresser and pulled out all the same stuff I pulled out for myself except obviously Riptide instead of a knife. In his closet I found a bag and I put everything in there for him just as I saw Percy walk out of the bathroom.

He hair was still dripping and you could see all of his toned muscles and his abs through his shirt. He saw me starting and smirked.

"Like what you see Wisegirl?"

I blushed and turned away.

"Oh shut up Percy. I packed everything for you so your all set." I glanced at the clock it was nine o clock. "Come on we need to go the bus is leaving in fifteen minutes."

"OK let's go."

He grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder following me out of the cabin.

We walked to the Big House laughing and telling stupid jokes to each other. This was one of the many reasons why Percy was my best friend. We could just be ourselves around each other and it was totally normal, along with the fact that he was the only person who really understood me and that he was always there for me to kill a monster or two or be a shoulder to cry on if I ever needed one. We had really grown close since we returned the Master Bolt to Zeus and I was really lucky to have him in my life.

Percy opened the door and held it open for me.

"Ladies first Miss Chase." he said with a goofy grin.

I laughed and and walked through. "Why thank you Mr. Jackson."

He laughed at me and I looked into his eyes just as he turned towards me. He stopped laughing and just smiled at me and I got totally lost in his eyes. They were bright green and I just couldn't help but stare. Then he started leaning in. Oh gods! Was he going to kiss me! Not that I didn't want him to! Wait no of course I don't want him to Percy is my best friend that's it. But I found myself to be leaning in too.

"Eh hem!"

Me and Percy jumped away from each other to see everyone else staring at us and we both blushed and looked away from each other, sitting down in our seats.

"Well now that you're all here," Chiron started while trying not to laugh. "You may go and board the RV. It's waiting at Half-Blood Hill. And just so your all aware, it may look small but inside it's quite large. Large enough that you should all fit quite comfortably. So now good bye everyone and enjoy yourselves."

At that we all got out of our seats and ran to Half-Blood Hill, throwing 'goodbyes' and 'thank yous' over our shoulders to Chiron.

When we reached the hill we saw a regular RV parked on the road. All of us sprinted towards it and crammed ourselves inside with all of our bags.

Inside the doors in front of you was the driver's seat but there was a door to the left so we opened it and walked in to see a huge living room equipped with a flat screen TVon the left wall, three extremely comfy looking couches in the middle, an Xbox 360 console with five remotes for the guys, and a shelf filled with games and DVDs on the same wall as the TV. The boy threw themselves at the Xbox and started playing as I explored the rest of the RV with the girls.

On the wall in front of us were two doors and to the right were a set of stairs leading to an upstairs that you wouldn't be able to tell was there from outside. The first door on the left led to a beautiful kitchen with everything we would need to eat for the road trip along with a dining room table that could fit us all easily. We left the kitchen and went through the other door to find a nice bathroom with a sink and toilet that was probably just for those who were in the kitchen or the living room. We left the bathroom and walked up the stairs to see two more doors. One was labeled girls and the other boys.

"Oh thank the gods!" cried Katie. "A place to put our bags down in."

The rest of us laughed at her as we walked inside and put our bags down. The room was GIANT. There were four queen sized beds against the back wall along with four dressers across from each one. On the same wall was another flat screen TV. There was also two walk in closets on the left so all of us will have to share with one other person and a desk with a computer. To the right was a door that must lead to the bathroom. We looked inside to see a huge jacuzzi bath tub, a steam shower, a sink for each of us, and a toilet.

"SQUEEE!" squeeled Silena **(lol sorry I find that to sound funny)** "I can't wait to put this bathroom to use when I give you all make overs."

Katie, Thalia, and I all jumped back about thirty feet.

"What?" I yelled. "You are not coming near me with any make up of yours no matter what."

"Agreed!" said Thalia and Katie at the same time.

Silena huffed "Oh well we'll see about that now won't we?"

We went back in our room and decided on who was getting which bed. Thalia got the far one to the left, then the order was me, then Silena, and finally Katie. We each took the dresser in front of us and Thalia and I would be sharing one closet while Katie and SIlena got the other.

The four of us left our room and went back downstairs to see all of the boys lounging on the couches playing NBA 2K (sorry if thats not actually a multiplayer game but it will be in here :P). It seemed to be Beckendorf, Connor, and Travis against Percy and Nico.

"Hey guys. You should check out your room. Ours was great so I'm sure yours will be too." Katie said to them.

They must have been really into the game because not one of them reacted.

"HEY GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTTS AND BRING YOUR BAGS TO YOUR ROOM!" Thalia screamed.

They all jumped and ran upstairs.

"Woah," said an awed Katie. "You gotta teach me that."

Once again we all laughed at her and jumped on the couch to watch TV.

* * *

**Nico POV**

Wow that sure was scary. Thalia just screamed her head off at us and we were all a bit shaken up.

We walked into the room labeled boys and took a look around. A single word to sum it up was INCREDIBLE. Whoever made this room figured that us guys would want more space for our video games and other various electronics so there were two sets of bunk beds along with a single bed on the left wall along with three dressers and a single walk in closet. The rest the of room was taken up by two couches and another flat screen TV and Xbox console with even more games! On the right was a door to the bathroom that was pretty simple. It just had a large shower, one sink, and a toilet. But hey! Us guys don't need a fancy bathroom. We put our bags down and split up the beds and the dressers and closet. I would be getting a top bunk along with Travis. Connor and Percy would be getting the bottoms while Beckendorf got the single bed. The three dressers were given to me, Percy, and Beckendorf and the Stolls got the closet. After that was done we went back downstairs to see the girls sitting on the couches. I took a seat next to Thalia and the rest of the guys sat down too. Percy next to Annabeth, Travis next to Katie, Connor on the floor, and Beckendorf sat next to Silena and put an arm around her shoulder.

"So," Beckendorf broke the silence. "How do we drive this thing."

We were all quiet. None of us had thought of that.

"Um let me go look at the driver's seat. Beckendorf come with me." Annabeth said.

They got up and went through the door. They were gone for about two minutes before we heard the engine turn on and we started moving. The two of them came back in.

"There's an auto driver so it will drive all the way to Vermont but stop if we feel we need to." Annabeth told us.

"OK cool so why don't play a game to pass the time?" Silena suggested.

"Sounds good. What game should we play?" I replied.

Connor and Travis exchanged smiles and said simultaneously "TRUTH OR DARE!"

Oh gods I thought. This will be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thalia's POV**

Yesss! Truth or Dare! I loved this game because I loved making people do things things they were uncomfortable doing hahah but I was really excited about this one because I was gunna match Annabeth and Percy together. It was obvious that they were crazy about each other but they would never admit it.

"Oh Hades guys. Do we really have to?" asked Percy.

"Of course we do Percy! And we should also play other games like Spin the Bottle and 7 Minutes in Heaven." Silena replied suddenly.

"But Silena why would we have to do both 7 Minutes in Heaven and Spin the Bottle? Aren't they almost the same thing except one is in a closet?" I asked.

"Hmm I guess your right. We'll pick one or the other when we get up to that game."

That answer satisfied me so I just nodded my head and sat down on the floor in between Connor and Nico.

"OK so who wants to go first?" asked Travis.

No one said anything and I thought, why not start the matching now? But then another thought occurred to me. I should get Silena in on this considering who her mom was.

I stood up. "Silena could you come here for a sec with me?"

She looked confused but got up and followed me regardless.

"What's up Thalia?"

"I think we should play match maker and set up Annabeth and Percy."

Her mouth turned up into a huge grin. "Omg you are sooo rightttt!"she squeeled. "Come on lets go do it!"

We went back to the circle and sat down. Annabeth shot me a curious glance but I pretended that I hadn't seen her.

"I'll go first," said Katie.

We all looked at her shocked. I had never expected Katie to be eager to play this game.

"What?" she exclaimed. "I actually happen to enjoy this game. Sooo...Annabeth. Truth or Dare?"

I could almost see the gears turning in Annabeth's head as she thought of things Katie might say with her answers. After about twenty seconds she decided on Truth.

"OK umm what was your first impression of Percy once you knew him for a little while?"

Annabeth blushed before she answered and looked towards Percy who was wearing a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and looked back to Katie.

"Well I would have to say annoying because he always managed to get under my skin but I also knew that he was kind and caring and would always be there for me."

She looked at Percy again who had started blushing but then he looked confused.

"Wait let me get this straight," Percy said. "You never hated me at first? I only annoyed you?"

"Hahaha no Seaweed Brain I never hated you. You weren't annoying enough."

Percy chuckled a bit and the two of them shared a look. I looked at Silena and mouthed 'See?' She nodded her head enthusiastically and Beckendorf cleared his throat.

"Your turn Annabeth," he told her.

She pulled her eyes away from Percy's.

"OK OK. Um Connor Truth or Dare?"

Connor looked hurt. "What kind of question is that?"

Annabeth looked at him funny.

"Obviously I pick Dare. You don't even have to ask a Hermes child which one they prefer."

"Well alright then Mister All-Powerful Hermes child," Annabeth started. "I dare you to go to the window in the kitchen that faces the cars behind us and moon the car nearest to us."

Connor jumped right of his seat and ran towards the kitchen. We all followed him in through the door and got there just in time to see the old woman's face in the car behind turn to absolute disgust as she quickly switched lanes.

"Hahahahah that was great! Did you see her face?" said Travis.

"Haha yeah that was a great dare Wisegirl," Percy told Annabeth.

Annabeth blushed and smiled. "Thanks Seaweed Brain."

The nine of us walked back into the living room and sat back down.

"OK Thalia Truth or Dare?"

I thought it over for a second and picked Truth.

"Have you ever thought about quitting the Hunt?"

That was a weird question from Travis. I never expected him to ask that. As I pondered over the question I saw Nico looking at me and I felt butterflies in my stomach. In fact, this wasn't the only time I've ever felt them while being around him. Nico was the only person who actually understood me like how Percy understands Annabeth and I was getting scared that I was starting to like him because I really didn't want to leave the Hunt.

"I don't really want to but it might be necessary in the future," I replied.

Did Nico just brighten up a bit? Nah must be my imagination.

"Why would that ever happen?" Annabeth asked me.

"Sorry my turn is over. Silena, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to go a full twenty four hours without wearing makeup starting at midnight tonight."

"WHAT!" she yelled. "YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT I COULD DO THAT!"

"Shhh Silena it's OK. I think you're beautiful without make up anyway," said Beckendorf.

"Awww I love you Charlie."

"Love you too." Beckendorf smiled and kissed Silena softly.

"Oh brother. Get a room!" cried Travis.

Katie smacked his shoulder.

"Oh shut up Travis. Your just jealous because no girl likes you."

"Oh please Katie you love me so you can't even say that." he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"You wish Stoll."

"OK how about we get on with the game?" I interrupted.

Travis smirked and Katie rolled her eyes but that only made Travis' smirk grow larger.

"Annabeth Truth or Dare?" Silena asked.

"Dare."

"I dare you to sit on Percy's lap until I say you can get off."

I smiled at both Annabeth and Percy's blushes.

"Um OK."

Annabeth stood up and sat down on Percy.

"Now put your arms around her Percy."

"Hey wait that wasn't part of the dare."

"Don't act like you don't want him to," Silena argued.

Annabeth blushed deeper and said something inaudible as Percy put his arms around her waist and said something in her ear in which she laughed to rather loudly.

"Nico, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Out of all the girls here, who do you want to kiss the most?"

Wow. That was a good question. Annabeth was on a roll today.

"Um..Thalia," he said shyly.

I immediately felt my cheeks heat up and my butterflies went crazy again. Nico wanted to kiss me? What if he likes me? I should really figure out my feelings for him because I don't want to confuse him.

"Awwww," cooed Silena. "Looks like we have ourselves another couple!"

I blushed even deeper and looked at Nico who seemed to be blushing even more than me and looked somewhat nervous, as if I would kill him for saying that. He looked up at me and I looked into his eyes and smiled. I saw relief fly through his face as he returned the smile.

"So Travis Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to prank call Ares."

"A-Ares?"

Well this was new. Travis seemed hesitant to performing a prank.

Katie reached up and put a hand on his forehead.

"Well you don't seem to be sick. Are you sure your OK? You're never hesitant when it comes to pranks."

"Well yeah but I'm usually pranking you not the freakin war god!" Travis exclaimed.

Katie looked offended and shot him a glare before turning pointedly away.

"Hades fine! I'll do it. Give me a phone."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out mine and handed it to him.

He dialed the number and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" It was definitely Ares.

Travis pinched his nose to disguise his voice.

"Hi is this Domino's Pizza?"

"No it is not punk!"

"Oh that's wonderful I would like to place an order for a large pepperoni pizza."

We all started giggling into our hands.

"Listen to me kid. I can blow you up in .2 seconds if you don't hang up."

"No I don't want any mushrooms but thanks anyway. I'm expecting this to be delivered within the half hour or else I'm not paying for it."

By that point we were all lying down with tears coming out of ours eyes trying not to break.

"LISTEN YOU NO GOOD BRAT IF ONE MORE THING COMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IT WILL BE THE LAST THING YOU EVER SAY!"

"Oh yes that would be great if it was pre-cut. Thank you bye."

And just as the phone closed we all let out our laughs. We kept laughing for a full twenty minutes before we were able to pull ourselves together and wipe away our tears.

"Oh man Travis that was great," Percy told him.

"Haha thanks man. So we should continue now right?"

"Yeah why not?" I told him. "We'll do like two more people."

"Beckendorf, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to eat only Connor's cooking until we get to Vermont."

Beckendorf groaned loudly. "Must I? He can't cook for his life!"

"Oh I beg to differ," objected Connor. "I've gotten better and I happen to have some grilled chicken right here that you could have."

Connor grabbed something from his bag and threw it to Beckendorf who smelled the inside and dropped the bag.

"Oh my gods Connor that smells horrible."

"Well if you want to eat tonight that's all there is for you. So take it or leave it."

He thought about before taking back the bag.

"I guess better safe than sorry right? So Percy, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Are you happy that Annabeth is sitting on your lap?"

He blushed scarlet. "Um..yes," he replied.

Annabeth looked shocked.

"You are?" she asked.

"I-I uhh well yeah I am." he smiled at her.

She smiled back and he pulled her closer to him. This was great getting them together was much easier than I thought it would be.

"OK Percy your turn," Connor told him.

"Katie, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Do you actually hate Travis?"

"Well no I don't hate him he just annoys me because he's really immature."

"HA I knew you couldn't actually hate me. You just used it as a cover up because your absolutely crazy for me," Travis exclaimed.

"Yeah OK Stoll. The day that I ever like you is that day that you stop pranking and stealing."

"Hey I'm willing to stop."

Katie rolled her eyes and sighed.

Silena looked back and forth between the two and gave me a quizzical look. I understood what she was asking me but I just shrugged because I honestly didn't know the answer.

All of a sudden the horn honked and we all ran towards the driver's seat. In front of us was a humungous mountain resort.

"But that's not possible," said Annabeth. "How could we be in Vermont already?"

"Maybe the RV travels faster than normal," Nico suggested.

"Well guys do we want to stay in the RV while we were here for a couple of days or should we get rooms?" asked Percy.

"Let's get rooms it'll be more fun," answered Annabeth.

"OK then everyone. Let's go upstairs and take what were gunna need for Vermont and head into the hotel," I told them.

Everyone nodded and we ran upstairs to grab our bags.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Nico POV**

We all walked into the hotel lobby and stared in awe at our surroundings. It was huge. There was a bar in the middle with at least four flat screen TVs. There was also three separate lounge areas and the lobby desk was off to the left. We started walking to the desk but then a thought occurred to me.

"Guys how are we supposed to pay?"

"Don't worry Nico. Chiron gave me a credit card that will cover everything for us," answered Thalia.

"Oh OK cool."

She smiled at me and continued walking. That smile could melt my insides. It was really a shame that Thalia was in the Hunters because I was falling for her. Hard. But she had said that she may have to quit the Hunters so I had a little window of opportunity.

"Hello how may I help you?" said the lady at the desk.

Thalia stepped up to reply. "We were hoping that you had a couple of rooms open for my friends and I."

"Well I can check how many do you need?"

"Two with two queen size beds in both and a pull out couch in one."

The lady started typing away on the computer and after a few minutes she looked back up.

"OK I found two rooms next two each other. How many days do you plan on staying.

Thalia looked at us.

"Two nights three days?"

We nodded.

"Two nights and three days." she told the lady.

"OK how do you wish to pay it will be one hundred dollars for each night so two hundred dollars total. That doesn't include any restaurants or room service though. If you do have dinner at a restaurant here or order room service you can put it on your room tab because you won't be charged until the end of your stay."

"That's fine," Thalia told her as she handed over the credit card.

The lady swiped the credit card and gave Thalia a receipt to sign.

"Your rooms will be room 431 and 432 how many room keys do you want for each?"

"Which one has the pull out couch?"

"432"

"OK so we'll have five for that room and four for the other."

"Here you are and the elevators are just to the right. Enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you."

We walked to the elevators and got in one.

"Whoever is closer the buttons press four," said Annabeth.

Silena pushed the button and we were off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Travis POV**

We walked down the hall and looked at the numbers. 428, 429, 430, 431, and 432.

"Well here we are," stated Annabeth.

"So I guess we'll go our separate ways for now and meet in the lobby in like an hour for dinner?" asked Percy.

"Yeah alright that sounds good to me. What do you guys think?" said Thalia.

The rest of us just nodded.

The girls walked into their room and myself and the guys walked into ours. It was really nice here. There was a little hallway with a bathroom off to the side that had a sink a toilet and a pretty big shower. Continuing down the hallway led to the main room where there was two large queen sized beds and then a pullout couch on the right wall. There was a flat screen TV and a dresser and a mini fridge underneath on the left wall and on the far wall was a sliding glass door that led to a balcony.

I walked over to glass door and looked outside.

"Holy crap guys you gotta come check this out!" I yelled to the other guys.

They all came running over and looked out the window. There in front of us was a huge mountain that towered over the hotel by a good 300 feet.

"Oh wow I can't wait to ski on that!" said Connor.

Nico, Percy, and Beckendorf looked at him in surprise. "You ski?" asked Nico.

"Yeah and I do too," I told them.

They then looked at me in surprise.

"What?"

"We just expected you guys to be more of snowboarders," said Percy.

"Well sorry to disappoint. Do you guys snowboard?"

"Yep."

"Yeah."

"Uh huh."

"Well Travis, looks like we're the only skiers." Connor said with a smirk.

"Haha I doubt that. Some of the girls probably ski too."

"Oh yeah! Well we only have another 45 minutes we should start showering."

"OK I shot first!" Percy said.

"Second!" yelled Beckendorf.

Then there was a 'third' from Connor and a 'forth' from Nico and next thing I know I get to shower last. Oh well at least I get to crash on the bed for the next half hour.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

It felt like thirty seconds since I closed my eyes when I was pushed off the bed by none other than a Mr. Nico di Angelo.

"You're up Stoll hurry you have ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?"

I jumped up and took a shower faster than I ever had before and quickly threw on a dark blue button up shirt, a pair of jeans and my white nike sneakers. I brushed my hair really quick and met the rest of the guys outside of the room.

"OK I'm ready let's go."

The five of us took the elevator downstairs and saw the girls sitting down on a couch by the front desk. My eyes immediately went to Katie and I felt my jaw drop to the floor. She was a wearing a simple blue dress and black high heels. Her hair was wavy over her shoulders and she was wearing light eye makeup and lipgloss. Yeah I know it doesn't seem like much but I thought she looked like a million golden drachmas.

I came out of my daze and noticed the other guys looking that way too. Well all of them except for Connor. We approached the girls and I walked over to Katie.

"You look really nice Katie."

She looked at me surprise clearly written all over her face.

"Why do you look so surprised?"

"Cause I didn't expect you say something nice to me."

"Hahah very funny Gardner could you just say thank you maybe?" I asked with a small smile.

She rolled her eyes at me a smile playing at her lips "Thanks Stoll. You don't look too bad yourself."

I felt my smile grow bigger as I replied.

"Thanks!"

"Come on let's get going."

Our whole little group walked up to the desk and Annabeth approached the lady.

"Excuse me Ma'am. Is there a place in this hotel where we could get dinner?"

The lady looked up at us and smiled.

"Of course just go to the elevators and go down one floor. There's a bunch of different kind of restaurants to choose from."

"Thank you!"

We all walked back to the elevators and went down a floor.

When the doors opened we were in front of at least six different restaurants to eat at.

"Ummm how are we supposed to pick?" I wondered out loud.

"How bout eeny meeny miny mo?" Katie asked.

"Ahhh the traditional eeny meeny miny mo." I said jokingly. "A decision making tool used by demigods since the beginning of time."

Everyone laughed at me except for Katie. She resorted to her famous eye roll that seemed to be reserved only for me.

"Well how else are we supposed to pick?" demanded Katie.

"She has a point," said Thalia. "Let's just do it."

"OK fine," replied Nico "Ready everyone?"

There was a chorus of 'yups' and Nico went to work. Once he was finished his finger landed on an Italian restaurant.

"Looks good to me. Let's go!"

We walked into the restaurant and got seated at a table. The night went by quickly and soon enough it was time to go back to the hotel room.

We paid the bill and left.

As soon as we got back to the hotel room we set our alarm for 10am and crashed. Me and Connor in one bed, Nico and Percy the other, and Beckendorf took the pull out.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**The next morning Katie POV**

I woke up the next morning before the other girls and took a quick shower. By the time I came out everyone else was up and getting ready. I put on my ski clothes which consisted of snow pants and a ski jacket on top of a pair of sweats and a sweater. I grabbed my gloves, scarf, and hat and left the hotel room with the girls to meet up with the guys so we could rent our skis and snowboards and hit the slopes.

We walked out of the elevator and saw all of the guys almost asleep on their feet. Apparently 10:30 was still too early for them. I looked over at Travis and couldn't help it when my heart jumped a bit. He looked really cute in his ski suit and the fact that I had a lot of fun with him last night really didn't help.

"Ready to go guys?" Silena asked when we walked to them.

"Yeah come on." Percy replied crankily.

All of us walked out of the hotel and to the store where we could rent our equipment. I rented a pair of skis and poles along with Annabeth, Silena, and surprisingly the Stolls while everyone else rented a snowboard.

We stopped at the bottom of a ski lift put on our skis/snowboards, and decided it would be best if we all split up for now then met back up for lunch. I went with Travis, Annabeth with Percy, Thalia with Nico, Silena with Beckendorf, and Connor went with a nice looking brunette that he had met on the walk here.

"So do you wanna go right on the lifts or do you wanna go on the bunny hill first?" Travis asked me with a smirk.

"Oh please Stoll I bet I could ski better than you let's hit the slopes."

"Hahahah I like your spirit Gardner. Let's go!"

So the two of us waited on line for the lift for about five minutes and then finally we boarded. It was really nice to be sitting up there thirty feet from the ground and just looking at all of the trees covered in a thick layer of snow. It looked like a winter wonderland.

"It's beautiful isn't it," I said to Travis.

He looked at me. "Yeah it really is."

He didn't really seem to be talking about the trees but at that point I didn't care. I was getting lost in his dark blue eyes that weren't filled with mischief for once but with kindness.

I didn't want this moment to end. Just me and Travis up here away from all demigod troubles where we could just be with each other. But of course it had to end right then and there because the top of the mountain was approaching and we had to get off of the lift.

We jumped off at the same time and I almost fell over but Travis grabbed my hand and steadied me. Together we turned to the right and stopped in front of the trail map. Travis let go of my hand and brought it to his chin. Like he was thinking.

"Well lunch is in three hours so we probably have time to do three runs down the mountain. Which works out perfectly cause there are three trails that lead tot he bottom." Travis said.

"Which one do you wanna go down first then?"

"You could pick first. The one to our left is pretty much all smooth sailing so it's the easiest. It's not very steep and there aren't any jumps. The one in the middle is probably the next easiest as it's steeper but still not that steep and there are a couple of jumps that you could go off if you want and then then the one to the right is the hardest cause it's the steepest and has the most jumps."

"So why don't we just go in order from left to right so it's kind of like were getting warmed up for the big one?"

"Whatever you say Katie-Kat!"

I smiled at his nickname for me. Usually I act like I hate it but secretly I love it.

We pushed away from the map and went to the left. We started out slow just skiing side by side not saying anything but then it seemed like Travis was itching to go faster.

"You wanna race?" I asked him.

"You bet!"

"Hahah OK so whoever loses has to buy the other lunch. Sound fair?"

"Yeah definitely. We racing to the bottom of the lift?"

"Sounds good just get ready cause I'm about to beat you by a mile."

"Whatever you say Gardner. Ready. Set. GO!"

We both pushed off at the same time. I knew that this was a long trail and that I shouldn't use all of my energy now so I let Travis get in front of me. But not far enough that I couldn't see him.

I skied in and out of oncoming people and it felt amazing to feel the wind through my hair and the snow gliding under my feet. I made sure to keep my skis straight and my knees bent. I hadn't gone skiing in years and I felt right at home. I saw the ski lift in the distance and decided that I should pass Travis now. I dug my poles in the snow and pushed off as hard as I could. I went flying straight down . I tucked my poles under my arms and leaned forward. I zoomed right passed Travis and slid to a stop right in front of the lift.

"B-But you were so far behind! How could you have beaten me?"

"Ahh Travis I can't tell you that cause then you might end up beating me one day. By the way. I'm feeling hungrier than usual today so I hope you have enough money." I smiled and winked at him and went back in line to get on the lift again.

This time we didn't talk much. Travis was probably still mad that I beat him. Not that I cared. I had to admit that run made me tired and it was nice to sit back and close my eyes even if it was for only five minutes.

"Katie open your eyes we gotta get off."

I opened my eyes just in time. We hopped off the lift and went to the right again but this time we took the trial in the middle. The two of us stopped at the top and looked down. Yeah this one was definitely steeper.

"You see that jump right there?" Travis asked me while pointing down the trail.

I looked to where he was pointing and saw people going off of a jump and doing various tricks in the air before landing on the ground.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I wanna go off of it. Will you wait for me right under it?"

"Sure but then you have to do the same for me on the next one."

"Alright I'll see you in a bit. And remember to watch I think you'll be impressed."

"Yeah well we'll see about that."

"Can I get a kiss for good luck?"

I felt my cheeks heat up. "You wish."

"Yeah you're right. I do wish."

He shot me a smile and went over to the line for people who wanted to go on the jump. I started skiing down and slid to a stop right after the jump and looked behind me. Travis was next in line. He looked at me and I gave him a thumbs up. He pushed away from the line and was off. He tucked his poles under his arms and gained speed rather quickly. He went off the jump and he spread out his arms and legs so he looked like a giant X in the sky. He tucked his arms back in and straightened out his skis right in time and landed perfectly, sliding to a stop right in front of me.

"So what'd you think Gardner? Pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah it was pretty good Stoll. But I'll do better trust me."

"Oh harsh words Katie. Clearly you can talk the talk but can you walk the walk?"

I rolled my eyes at him and decided not to answer he would see what I was about to do. We continued going down the trail in silence looking for another jump.

"Oh look there's one." Travis pointed out.

"OK yeah I see it. Just wait underneath it and I'll be right there."

"Alright Katie-Kat. Want a kiss for good luck?"

"Haha no thanks I can manage without it."

He pretended to look hurt but then turned away with a wink and skied down to underneath the jump.

I turned my skis and lined my self up with the jump. I pushed off just like Travis had done and zoomed towards the jump. As soon as I was in the air I pushed all my weight forward, tucked in my arms and legs and flipped **(I know maybe impossible but I couldn't think of anything else)** I righted myself out and landed easily, slowing to a stop in front of a shocked Travis.

"First you beat me in a race and now you top my trick off a jump! Katie Gardner have you skied before today!"

"Maybe."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know it never came up?" I offered weakly.

"Well I've gotta say I'm impressed. That was incredible!"

"Thanks Travis." I said while blushing.

"No problem. You better teach me how to do that tomorrow!"

"Wait so you wanna ski with me again tomorrow?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh I don't know just asking."

He looked down at his watch.

"Oh wow. We don't even have time to do the last trail. It's already one we gotta go meet everyone."

"OK let's go."

So Travis and I skied as fast as we could to the bottom of the mountain and only ended up being fifteen minutes late.

"What kept you guys so long?" asked Connor.

"Yeah. Were you two doing something that you should be telling us?" added Beckendorf.

Mine and Travis' face turned red. This was the third time today my face turned red cause of this kid! What was happening to me?

"No," retorted Travis. "We just lost track of time."

"Uh huh sure. Well let's get food I'm starving."

We all mumbled something along the lines of 'yeah me too' and we went up to the buffet.

I grabbed a plate and put some chicken on my plate along with a bit of salad and some fried vegetables **(my dinner tonight :p)** and walked over to the register. I put down my plate and reached for my wallet when someone grabbed my hand.

"I do believe that I'm supposed to be paying for lunch. Am I right?" said Travis.

"You don't have to. It was a race. Not a very big deal."

"But we made a bet and if there's one thing about a child Hermes, it's that we always follow through on bets and promises."

I gave him a smile and thanked him.

Together we walked to table and sat down. We were the first ones done so it was just the two of us.

"So did you have fun?" he asked me.

"Yeah I had a great time actually."

"It was only cause you got to spend it with me." he wiggled his eyebrows.

I laughed out loud but then stopped as everyone else walked over to the table.

"So Connor wanna introduce us to your friend? Travis asked him.

"Sure. Everyone this is Juliet. Juliet this is my brother Travis and my friends Katie, Percy, Annabeth, Silena, Thalia, Nico, and Beckendorf. So guys Juliet is actually staying right across the hall from us at the hotel so she's gunna chill with us for the rest of today and then again tomorrow."

"OK sounds cool."

There wasn't much conversation during lunch cause we were all starving so we were pretty much just stuffing our faces.

"So guys," Annabeth started once we were done. "We could either continue to ski for today or we could do something else."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Not sure. But I'm sure we could think of something."

"Why don't we just ski for the rest of today and we'll all meet for dinner by the restaurants at eight?" suggested Percy.

"Yeah I like that idea. But everyone dress really nice tonight cause it's our last night in Vermont. And you could join us for dinner if you want Juliet." said Silena.

"OK thanks," replied Juliet with a smile.

"Then let's get back on the slopes everyone same groups as earlier."

"OK see you all later." said Thalia.

We all got up, threw out our garbage and went back to the slopes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Nico POV**

Thalia and I got up and went outside to grab our snowboards. She was so much fun to be around. The whole time we were together we were laughing and talking so much that we only got one run in.

"Hey Nico you in there?" Thalia asked while waving a hand in front of my face.

"What? Oh yeah sorry about that."

"No problem. I was just wondering if you wanted to race to the bottom starting from right when we get off the lift?"

"Nahh racing is what everyone does. How about instead we see who can spray the most snow on someone at the bottom of the mountain when we stop?"

Thalia's face broke into a huge grin and her electric eyes sparkled.

"I like it. Let's do it. Loser has to do the dishes in the RV for the rest of the vacation."

"Woah but then everyone else automatically doesn't have to do them!"

"Oh true. How about then just on the trip to D.C.?"

"OK that works"

The two of us got off of the lift and started going down the trail in the middle in silence it wasn't until about half way down that I said something.

"We should start gaining speed now."

"OK. Ready. Set. GO!"

The two of of us straitened out our boards and kept low. It wasn't too long until we were just blurs flying down the mountain. I saw the bottom of the hill and got ready to stop.

Then Thalia screamed.

**A/N: And that's chapter five! Lol jkjk I couldn't do that I owe you a long chapter considering how long it's been since I've updated! So let's continue on with the story.**

I immediately turned my board and came to a stop. I looked up the hill to see a giant hellhound on top of an unconscious Thalia. Oh crap! I felt my blood turn to ice as the hellhound opened it's mouth to take a bit out of her.

"Go home to Tartarus you piece of dog crap!"

I ripped the snowboard off of my feet, summoned my iron sword from the ground, and charged.

I jumped off the ground and onto its back. It felt me there so it started running in circles and jumping all around to get me off. I was trying so hard to stay on that I wasn't able to kill it, but then all of a sudden it stopped and I saw the hilt of a sword in its stomach and next thing you know I'm standing in the snow with a pile of golden dust around me.

I looked around to see Connor retrieving his sword, a petrified Juliet standing a little far off, and Thalia still unconscious on the ground. I told Connor to talk to Juliet and I ran over to Thalia.

Her life aura was fine which helped settle my stomach but she was still passed out and her pulse was really slow. I bent down over her and picked her up bridal style. With Thalia in my arms, me, Connor, and Juliet slowly made our way down the rest of the mountain which wasn't much at all thank the gods cause my arms were getting tired.

I decided to make conversation while we were on our way to the First Aid Tent.

"So Juliet I guess you know our secret now huh?"

"Yes, I do."

I was shocked. No one ever took the new of greek gods existing this easily. "So you're not surprised at all?"

"Well I'm surprised that your half-bloods but not that the gods exist."

"And why is that."

"Because I'm a half-blood too."

"WHAT! Who's your parent?"

"I don't know. And neither does my mom. She just knows that he was a god."

"Wait. I have an idea," spoke up Connor.

"Well go ahead."

"Juliet, why don't you stay with us for the rest of our vacation and then come with us to Camp Half-Blood. I'm positive your dad will claim you then right Nico?"

"It's a good idea. What do you say Juliet?"

She was quiet for a minute before she responded, "I'd like that. But I'll talk to my mom about it tonight."

The conversation then ended as we approached the tent. There was a young looking guy there.

"Hi how can I help you?"

"Well," I started. "My friend took a really bad spill on the slopes and she's unconscious. We were hoping you could take of her and stuff."

"Yeah sure just lay her down on this bed and you could go. We'll take your phone number we can call you with updates."

I put Thalia on the bed and exchanged numbers with the guy.

"By the way, my name is Tyler. I'll call you in an hour or so."

"OK thanks and I'm Nico."

We walked out of the tent and went back to the hotel. We still had another two hours before dinner but none of us felt like going back on the slopes.

"So what do you guys wanna do?" I asked.

"I don't know let's just watch TV or something. Juliet you could with us to our room." answered Connor.

"OK sounds good."

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Around the same time Annabeth POV**

Percy and I had just finished our first run down the mountain and we decided to stop for something to eat at Waffle Cabin **(I went to Windham mountain a year ago or so and me and my friends ate here and it just brings back memories)**. We were up next in line and Percy asked me what I wanted.

"Um, I'll just have a hot chocolate and a waffle with whipped cream," I said while taking out money. But Percy stopped me.

"Don't worry bout it Wisegirl I got it," he told me while smiling.

"Seaweed Brain. A gentleman? I never thought I would see this day!"

He rolled his eyes. "Very funny. Just go grab a table and I'll be right over."

"Haha OK Perce thanks." I smiled and walked away. I found a table a bit secluded and sat down. About a minute later Percy came over with two trays in his hands.

"Here you go. One waffle with whipped cream and a hot chocolate."

"Thanks."

He took a seat across from me and we ate in silence. The waffle was amazing I finished it in about five bites. But the hot chocolate was hot so I couldn't drink it yet. I looked over at Percy to see him staring at me.

"Take a picture Seaweed Brain. It'll last longer."

"Umm I-I was just uhh y-you have whipped cream on the top of your lip," he mumbled while blushing. But then he did something that I wasn't expecting. He picked up a napkin and wiped it for me. I didn't know whose face was redder at this point, mine or his.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Anytime."

He looked into my eyes and it was the Big House all over again. I just couldn't look away. His eyes were always changing colors and they were just so amazing. One second they're blue then blue-green, then green, and then blue again. Anyone with a sane mind couldn't help but stare. All of a sudden I found myself leaning in just as he was but then right before our lips met two snowballs hit us in the heads. Our heads shot up and we looked around. About twenty feet away were a hysterical Travis and Katie. Oh boy was I angry and Percy looked to be feeling the same way. At the same time, we each picked up some snow and chucked it at the two of them. The snowballs made contact but they got up and ran away before we could do anything else.

"We'll get them back later for that," Percy said while trying to get the snow out of his hair.

"You missed a spot."

"Can you get it?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled "Of course Seaweed Brain."

I brushed the remaining snow off his head and checked my watch. Woah! Had that much time gone by already?

"Percy, we needa go back to the hotel rooms it's already 7 and dinner's at 8."

"Awwww I was just starting to have fun," he whined.

"Hahah toughen up you baby. Come on."

Together we walked into the lobby and into the elevators. Once inside, Percy decided to make conversation.

"I had fun with you today Annabeth." he said with a small smile.

I looked at him and smiled. "I did too."

When I smiled his smile grew larger so of course I blushed. But then the elevator doors opened and we walked to our rooms.

"See ya in a bit Seaweed Brain."

"Bye Wisegirl."

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Percy POV**

I walked into the hotel room and looked around to find someone.

"There you are you little piece of crap!"

I ran towards Travis and grabbed him by the collar.

"Did you think that was funny? I was so close to finally kissing her and you just had to ruin it right?"

"Hey Perce calm down you'll get your chance again."

I let go of his shirt and went into the bathroom to take a shower so my head would clear up. Once done I walked outside and looked at the clock.

"YO! It's 7:15 the rest of you better get ready!"

All of the guys started tackling each other trying to get to the shower first. Nico ended up winning cause he just shadow traveled there. I turned away from them and thought of what to wear.

I pulled on my boxers and a pair of kakis. I looked through my shirts and settled on a sea green polo. I pulled it over my head and tucked it in. Lastly I threw on my black dress shoes and dried my hair with my awesome Poseidon powers. I sat down on one of the beds and watched TV until everyone else was done.

Travis was wearing a light blue collared shirt with jeans and his nikes. Connor was wearing a yellow polo with a pair of jeans and his nikes. Beckendorf was dressed like me except a dark blue polo. And Nico was wearing a black polo with black jeans and black vans.

We all left the room and went downstairs to meet up with the girls. As we stepped out of the elevators we all stopped to see what the girls were wearing. The first one I saw was Thalia who had on an electric blue tank top with a black pencil skirt and black heels. Her hair was up in a bun with two pieces hanging in front of her face. She was wearing here traditional back eyeliner and mascara. Next was Silena who had on a red strapless dress that went down to half way down her thighs with red heels. Her hair was straight over her shoulders and she had on eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush, basically the works. Katie had on a light green sundress that went to her knees with black flats. Her hair was curled and down and she only wore eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss. Juliet had on an outfit similar to Thalia's except she was wearing a yellow tank top and flats and her hair was straight like Silena's. She was wearing all the same stuff as Silena but hers looked more natural. And finally my eyes fell on Annabeth and my knees went weak. She was wearing a sparkling grey dress that went to her knees. The dress made her eyes stand out big time and with her silver heels she looked like she would be my height **(idk if Percy's actually taller than her but he will be here)**. Her hair was wavy with a little piece pinned back. She only wore mascara and lipgloss but she really didn't need anything else.

I walked over to her.

"You look amazing Annabeth."

She blushed and looked down. "You look nice too Seaweed Brain."

I smiled at my nickname and offered her my arm. "Ready?"

She only nodded but she put her arm through mine. Along with everyone else we walked to the elevators and took them down to the bottom floor. We walked out and went to the restaurant. It was French and not exactly cheap but it was all good cause we had Chiron's card.

The hostess sat us deep into the restaurant and we looked at our menus.

"What are you guys gunna get?" asked Travis.

"Hmmmm I think I'm gunna get the Steak au poivre," replied Connor

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's filet mignon with loosely cracked peppercorns on top served with a cognac sauce," Annabeth read off the menu.

"That sounds good I'm gunna get that," said Beckendorf.

"Yeah me too," Travis said.

I looked down at the menu again. There was so much to choose from but eventually I decided on Pot au Feu. A beef stew with mixed vegetables.

"What are you getting?" Annabeth asked me.

"Beef stew. What about you?"

"Umm I think Ratatouille."

"Sounds good."

The waiter then came up to us. "Are you all ready to order?"

"Yup," I answered.

"Ok what can I get for you?"

We went around the table. Travis got the steak au poivre along with Beckendorf and Connor. Silena, Juliet and Thalia got salads while Annabeth and Katie got the Ratatouille. I ordered my Pot au Feu and Nico got andouillette which was some kind of sausage with fish.

We talked the whole time about our days while waiting. Nico and Thalia talked about the hell hound attack. I was kind of scared to find out that a hell hound found us but I figured that we would be fine. Silena and Beckendorf talked about how they had skipped out on the slopes after lunch and went shopping instead. Me and Annabeth told them about Waffle Cabin but kept the part about us almost kissing to ourselves. And finally Connor told us how Juliet was a half-blood and that her mom was gunna allow her to stay with us for the remainder of the trip so she could come back to Camp Half-Blood with us and find out who her dad was. Our food then came and it was all amazing. Once we were done we payed the bill and headed back up. Tomorrow we would leave at around 2 so we had time to hit the slopes and have lunch before we left.

As soon as I got into the hotel room I packed up my clothes except what I would need for tomorrow and went to bed. Today was a good day and hopefully tomorrow would be just as good if not better.


	6. Chapter 6

**Katie POV**

* * *

I woke up the next morning kinda upset. This would be our last day in Vermont but then I brightened up because Travis said he wanted to spend it together. I got out of bed to find out that I was alone in the room. Everyone must have gone on the slopes already. I went to grab my phone and saw a text from Travis.

( _Italics-Travis_ **Bold-Katie**)

_Hey Katie-Kat! Text me when ur up so we cld head out._

**Hey Stoll im up**

Almost immediately I got another text.

_Cool! When do u wanna meet up?_

**How bout 15 min in lobby cuz i gotta get ready**

_Sounds good to me! Cya then_

I closed my phone and jumped in the shower. Fifteen minutes later I threw on my ski stuff and grabbed my skis and poles and locked the door behind me. As I was walking out of the elevator someone came up behind me and yelled in my ear,

"BOO!"

I jumped in the air and screamed,

"TRAVIS I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

He was practically on the floor laughing and I kicked him in the gut for good measure.

"Aw come on Gardner don't be that way."

"Just get up Stoll let's go."

I was so annoyed! Why couldn't he just grow up already! I turned my back on him and walked away not looking back.

"No wait Katie hold up!"

I ignored him and kept walking but then I heard someone running behind me and Travis took my wrist and turned me around. I was about to say something but then I noticed how close we were and I blushed. Gods I hate how he could do that to me!

"Please don't be mad Katie. It was just a joke."

I looked in his puppy dog eyes and saw that he was being absolutely serious. I felt kind of bad for what I did since it was only a joke and I sighed.

"OK Travis I forgive you."

His face broke out into a smile. "Good. Now let's go ski."

He grabbed my hand and started running. At first I almost tripped but then I regained my footing and ran with him. We got to the lift and he let go of my hand. Immediately I wished he hadn't because I missed the warm that came along with it and not to mention the sparks that I felt when he touched me. We put on our skis and got on the lift. It was cold today and I started shivering because I had packed my jacket last night by accident and only had on a sweater. Travis saw me shivering and he looked concerned. He took off his jacket and offered it to me.

"Here wear mine."

"Oh no Travis it's OK I'm fine."

But then a chill ran up my body causing me to shiver again.

Travis smirked. "Clearly your not fine. Take it."

I gratefully took his jacket while muttering a thanks and put it on. It smelled exactly like him and I thought that I could just sit there all day smelling it. But I came out of my daze when I saw the top of the mountain coming up. Together we hopped off the lift and went to the same trail map as yesterday.

"Why don't we go on the third trail since we didn't get to yesterday?" I asked.

"Good plan Katie-Kat. Let's go!"

So we started going down the third trail but we stopped when we saw how steep and bumpy it was.

I gulped and started to think twice about this trail.

"Travis I don't know about this one."

"Yeah I feel the same way."

"Oh come guys are you really that chicken?"

We turned around to see who said that and we found Connor and Juliet only a few feet behind us.

"We are NOT chicken we just think it might not be a good idea because it would be bad if we got hurt before the Titan War." argued Travis.

But Connor wasn't going to buy that one.

"Yeah sure. How about we have a relay race? Katie and Juliet will start here while me and you go half way down the trail and when Juliet touches my hand or Katie touches yours we go race to the bottom. Deal? Losers have to do whatever the winners want during the RV ride to D.C..

"What do you think Katie-Kat?" Travis asked me.

"OK sounds good but you and Travis have to start because I don't trust you two."

Connor looked impressed and angry as if that was his plan the whole time and I had just ruined it.

"Fine." he agreed reluctantly.

So me and Juliet skied down to the middle and I sent a text to Travis saying we were ready and that they could go.

"Good luck Katie," I heard Juliet say next to me.

I smiled. "Thanks you too!"

We stood there for a little while staring behind us waiting until finally we saw two specks zooming down side by side. I got my self ready and held my hand out behind me. Within ten seconds I felt a slap on my hand and I pushed off. I was unaware of everything except for the trail in front of me. I swerved through the little bumps and through people keeping my eyes on the lift that was a mere two hundred feet away. I looked behind me to see Juliet only feet behind me and gaining. I pushed off with my poles another time and went strait on. A hundred feet..seventy five...fifty...twenty five...zero. I slid to a stop right in front of the lift and lifted my poles up in victory. A couple seconds later Juliet came followed by an angry Connor and then a crazy happy Travis who jumped on me and tackled me to the floor. I looked up at him and laughed.

"Well you look happy."

"I'm extremely happy! You did incredible! Connor is so angry he only challenged us because he assumed that you weren't good since you're a daughter of Demeter."

For some reason I felt that to be funny and not offensive. I was just happy I won.

"Hahaha well then I guess I proved him wrong huh?"

"Haha yeah you definitely did."

He got up off of me and offered his hand to help me up. I took it and he pulled me into a hug.

"You really were amazing Katie," he whispered in my ear.

I felt myself blush and thanked him in response. We pulled away and smiled at each other to see Connor and Juliet making out.

"DUDE! We're right here!" yelled Travis.

They jumped away from each other blushing.

"Well what were we supposed to do while you guys were having your little moment?" demanded Connor.

I blushed and looked down while Travis just shook his head blushing and looked at his watch.

"It's 12:30. Let's go have lunch and then we'll go back to rooms to shower and stuff before we leave."

The rest of us nodded and we started walking to where we got lunch yesterday. Connor and Juliet were walking in front of Travis and I while holding hands and I couldn't help feel a bit sad that that wasn't me and Travis instead.

"So Gardner," Travis started. "Did you have fun skiing in Vermont?"

I smiled up at him while responding. "Yeah I had a great time."

"That's only because you spent most of it with me."

"Haha yeah sure Stoll whatever floats your boat."

But even though I didn't say it out loud, I knew he was right.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Percy POV boarding the RV after lunch**

Well here we go. We are now leaving Vermont and headed to Washington D.C.

Annabeth was practically dying of anticipation but I couldn't blame her. So much incredible Greek based architecture was put into the buildings in D.C. that even I was excited. As we were walking through the door I looked at the driver's dashboard to see that we wouldn't be in D.C. until this time tomorrow so I guess we were spending the night on the RV **(I know it doesn't actually take this long but I feel like it's pointless to have the bedrooms and kitchen in the RV if they don't have any over night trips)**

"Come on Seaweed Brain move!"

I looked behind me to see an angry Annabeth. She was the last one coming on.

"No need to be so mean Wisegirl. I was checking how long it would take for us to get to D.C. because I figured you would want to know but I thought you were already on the RV."

Her face softened and she gave a small smile.

"Thanks Percy that was nice of you. I'm sorry I yelled."

I smiled back and told her it was fine. I turned back around and walked over to the stairs to put my bag down. When I went to walk back to the couches I saw that Silena and Beckendorf took up one couch, Juliet and Connor were taking up another, Thalia and Nico were on the floor and Annabeth was on the last couch with her legs propped up. I pushed Annabeth's legs off gently and sat down but then when I saw she was going to complain I lifted her legs back up and put them on my lap. I looked at her to see her blushing and I felt my cheeks heat up too. I turned away and addressed everyone else who were trying not to laugh.

"So guys what should we do?" I asked.

No one said anything at first but then Silena spoke up.

"How about Spin the Bottle?"

At that I felt my face pale and I became angry. I didn't want anyone else kissing Annabeth and I didn't want to kiss anyone else either. But when I opened my mouth to say no I heard Annabeth say something.

"That sounds good someone go get a bottle."

I wanted to argue with her and say that we shouldn't but I didn't have it in me. So while Thalia went to get a bottle and everyone else formed a circle, I found myself doing the same thing without uttering a single word.

Thalia returned to the room and sat down, placing the bottle in the middle.

"I'll go first," offered Silena. She leaned forward and spun the bottle. We all watched it spin around until it stopped on...me. Oh Hades! What's Beckendorf gunna do to me? I looked over at him and saw him mouth 'I'm watching you' I gulped and looked at Silena who was looking at me with a weird look in her eye. I felt myself blushing and I gulped again as she leaned in slowly. Her lips met mine softly but only for a couple of seconds. We pulled back and she winked at me while taking her place back to next to Beckendorf. I looked over at Annabeth and saw that she was red with anger. I then felt happy because she was jealous.

"Ooooohhh looks like Annabeth's jealous," teased Travis.

Katie smacked his shoulder while Annabeth shot him a glare.

"Shut up Travis," I told him. I didn't like that he made it public like that.

I ignored everyones looks of surprise and leaned forward to the bottle. Once again we all watched it spin and spin until it stopped on...Connor. Phew! That means I don't have to kiss anyone and that now Connor has to spin (idk if that's how you actually play but whateves). Connor then spun the bottle and it stopped on...Juliet. They both looked happy about that and they didn't hesitate to lean in. They were kissing for a while when Travis pushed his brother and they pulled apart. Connor looked annoyed but didn't say anything. Now it was Juliet's turn so she leaned forward and spun the bottle to see it land on Beckendorf. His face immediately turned red along with Juliet's while Connor and Silena looked livid. Beckendorf and Juliet leaned it quickly and shared a quick kiss before sitting back. Now Beckendorf spun for it to land on...Nico. Without looking up, he spun the bottle. When it stopped we all saw land on...Annabeth. I felt my anger build up and I knew that I probably looked just like Annabeth did when I had to kiss Silena. Their kiss lasted a little longer than my liking and Annabeth was blushing like crazy after which made me even angrier. Nico gave me an apologetic look but I shot him a death glare. But then I noticed that I wasn't the only one who was angry when I saw that Thalia's face pretty much mirrored mine. But it seemed that Silena saw this too.

"Well well well. It looks as if Percy wasn't the only one that disliked that kiss," she said while looking at Thalia. Both myself and Thalia blushed at that comment because now everyone else was looking at us teasingly. All except for Katie who looked like she felt bad.

"Leave them alone guys and let Percy spin the bottle," Katie told everyone.

Everyone averted their eyes and I leaned over and spun the bottle. I willed it to land on Annabeth with all my might and each time it passed by her I wished so bad it would stop that it hurt. Eventually it did stop and I looked in the direction of the person it landed on . It was...Annabeth! I couldn't believe my luck. I looked at her to see her blushing and I found myself blushing as well.

"Well don't just stare at her! KISS HER!" yelled the Stolls simultaneously.

I looked at Annabeth and raised my eyebrows for permission. She gave me a small smile and my heart started beating really hard and fast. I leaned over to her and put my hand on her cheek. Slowly her lips touched mine and I felt a spark travel through my whole body. I leaned closer and kept kissing her. Her arms found their way around my neck and in my hair while I wrapped mine around her waist. It was absolute bliss. With Annabeth I felt complete and like there was nothing else in the world but her. From then on I knew that I was in love with this girl and that I would do whatever it took to make her happy. We pulled apart from each other a couple minutes later and when I looked into her beautiful grey eyes I felt peace. I had finally kissed her. I gave her a big smile and she returned it right away.

"Umm well I don't know about you guys but I think were done with this game now right?" asked Beckendorf.

"Yeah that's fine with me," replied Connor.

Soon everyone was agreeing on the game being over and we went into the kitchen to make some dinner. Myself and the guys sat at the table while the girls looked around to see what we could eat. Automatically I found myself watching Annabeth. I couldn't help but think of how amazing she looked with every little thing she did. The way her forehead scrunched up while she was thinking, the way she pushed a little strand behind her ear when it fell free from her pony tail, and the way her eyes lit up whenever she had an idea or accomplished something.

"Yo Perce. You in there?" asked Nico.

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry."

Nico gave me a knowing smile. "No problem just stay off of Cloud Nine would you?"

I shot him a glare while the other guys laughed.

Soon enough the girls were placing fried chicken in front of us and everyone fell silent as we dug in and ate.

I looked over at the clock and it was already 10:00 at night.

"We should go to sleep guys," I told them.

"Yeah Percy's right come on," agreed Annabeth.

We all got up and put our dishes in the sink. I walked to the stairs, grabbed my bag, and went in my room. After I unpacked everything from Vermont, I climbed up in bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	7. Chapter 7

Thalia POV

I woke up the next morning to see Juliet giving Katie a foot massage.

"Uhh Katie..why is Juliet giving you a foot massage?"

"Cause Travis and I won a relay race in Vermont so Connor and Juliet have to do whatever we want."

"I should've known."

I left the two of them alone and jumped into the shower. I didn't think I was in there for too long but apparently I was a bad time judger because soon enough I heard Annabeth banging on the bathroom door.

"THALIA YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR 30 MINUTES! WOULD YOU GET OUT ALREADY?"

"Sorry Annabeth I'm getting out now."

I shut the water off and wrapped myself up in a fluffy towel while opening the door for a steaming Annabeth.

"There better be hot water left Thalia or I'll..."

She dropped the sentence there probably so it would sound more threatening but I wasn't scared of Annabeth so I just told her not to get her panties in a bunch as I walked out of the bathroom. No one else was in our room so I didn't have to change in our closet or anything. I pulled on a black v-neck with a skull on the front and I was in the process of pulling up my black skinny jeans when the door opened. I turned towards it to see Nico standing there with a face more red than a firetruck. Immediately I felt my face heat up as well.

"di Angelo you better close that door right now before I beat your face in!" I told him.

"S-sorry Thals. I'll go I just had a quick question."

He shut the door before I had the chance to respond. I wonder what he was going to ask me? Whatever I'll go find him when I'm done. So I continued to get ready by putting on my high top converse and brushing out my hair. I also put on my traditional thick eyeliner and mascara before leaving. I went downstairs to see all of the guys playing some video game where they shoot each other and all of the girls minus Annabeth sitting next to them. I looked for a spot to sit and noticed that the only available place was next to Nico. Oh great cause that's not gunna be awkward or anything. He only saw me pulling up my pants. I decided to take a seat next to the kid anyway.

As I sat down I could tell that he hadn't expected me to sit next to him because as soon as I sat he looked at me with shock clearly written on his face. In that moment that he looked at me, Percy let out a victorious yelp because he had killed Nico (in the video game of course).

"Well since your dead anyway," I started. "Why don't you ask me that question?"

He looked down at his shoes embarrassed and mumbled something.

"Sorry, what?"

"Let's go in the kitchen."

I was confused. What did Nico have to ask me that he couldn't ask in front of everyone else? Despite my confusion I nodded my head and made my way to the kitchen.

Once inside, Nico went right out and asked me.

"When you answered Travis' question about whether you would ever quit the Hunt or not, you answered if it was necessary. Why would it ever be necessary?"

I was taken aback at his question and even though I really wanted to tell him, I knew that I couldn't. So I decided to play dumb.

"What do you mean?"

He looked aggravated at my response. As if he knew what I was playing at.

"What would have to happen for you to quit the Hunt?"

I became nervous then because I knew Nico wouldn't stop until he got an answer.

"I don't know what you mean Nico."

"Don't play dumb with me Thalia!" he almost shouted. He kept getting closer to me and he grabbed my shoulders.

"Thalia answer me! What would have to happen for you to quit the Hunt?"

I looked down at my shoes. "I would have to fall in love."

He let go of my shoulders.

"You said if it was necessary as if there was the possibility that it would happen. Are you in love Thalia?"

Oh crap! I couldn't tell him that I was in love with him for so many reasons. The first being I knew that he didn't have any feeling for me back. Plus I didn't know if I could leave the Hunt now and if I admitted loving him out loud then I would be kicked out of the Hunt before you could say 'Artemis'.

I turned to walk out of the kitchen but I was stopped when I felt a hand around my wrist.

"Answer me. Are you in love?"

I looked into his eyes that usually reflected death but right now, on me, they were filled with something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Hope? Desire? Love maybe? No, it couldn't be love. There was no way that Nico di Angelo loved me. But as I was thinking this I saw him lean in closer to me closing the gap between us but it wasn't like before when he was trying to get me to admit something, he was more hesitant now like he thought I might stop him. But I never did. Finally I felt his lips on mine and his arms around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and started kissing him back. Our lips moved together perfectly like the last piece of a puzzle. The way he kissed me surprised me. I expected his lips to be cold like death and that he would be demanding, but he was the exact opposite and I liked it just like that. We kissed slowly but passionately until the need for air became completely necessary. When we pulled apart he rested his forehead against mine and looked into my eyes. A small smile on his lips. I smiled back at him and realized that even though the Hunt was my family, I was totally in love with Nico and he seemed to be in love with me.

"Nico I'm gunna quit the Hunt."

The smile came off of face and instead he looked guilty.

"Wait no Thalia. I don't want you to quit just because I kissed you."

To me it sounded as if he didn't really love me then and that he just kissed me because he had the opportunity and that hurt me a lot. I felt my heart break and I took a step away. I guess the hurt was evident on my face since he took another stop towards me.

"I don't want you to think that I don't love you. I do love you Thalia. So much! But I don't want you to give up your whole life for just me. I'm not that important."

"How could you think that? Your so important! To me, to Percy, to Annabeth, to everyone else on this RV and back at camp, to your dad too even if it doesn't seem that way. I'm making the decision to quit the Hunt because your worth it Nico no matter what you say."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent. I love you Death Boy," I finished with a smile.

At that moment I felt my whole body tingling and I saw the blessing of Artemis leave me. I wasn't immortal anymore and I could feel it. It seemed as if there was more weight on my shoulders and like my feet were heavier on the ground. Time moved slower than before. I started feeling dizzy and fell into Nico's arms unconscious.

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Later that same day Thalia POV

I woke up in my bed and I felt panic wash over me thinking that all that had happened was a dream. But then I became aware that Nico was here with me holding my hand and I knew that it had all really happened. My panic was replaced by happiness since I could now be with Nico and not feel guilty.

"Thalia your up! Are you OK?" Nico asked leaning over me.

I smiled up at him and pulled him down by the neck until his lips reached mine. I kissed him passionately for a couple of seconds before letting go of his neck.

Nico gave me a goofy grin. "Well I guess that means your fine huh?"

"Haha yeah I feel OK. Just a bit dizzy. What happened after I passed out?"

"Well first I started panicking but then I saw that you just passed out so I carried you up to here. Everyone else saw me bringing you up so they followed me and asked what happened. I told them everything and right now they're downstairs having lunch. They wanted me to go get them when you woke up."

"How long have I been out?"

"Only like two hours. It's two thirty now so we should be arriving in D.C. any minute now."

"Can I go downstairs? I'm hungry."

"Hahah yeah sure let's go."

He held his hand out for me and I took it without hesitation. I lifted myself out of bed and everything started spinning. I was about to fall but Nico steadied me and we continued walking down to the kitchen slowly. We arrived hand in hand and everyone stopped talking mid-sentence or eating mid-bite in the Stoll's cases.

"Hi everyone," I said with a small smile.

Annabeth got out of her chair first followed by Katie and Silena. They all came and gave me huge hugs saying they were proud of my decision and that they would always back me up. 'I am so lucky to have friends like this' I thought. Personally though, I loved it when Annabeth threatened Nico to be good to me or she would send him straight to his dad courtesy of her dagger.

Me and Nico sat down and ate our lunch that consisted of a grilled steak with mashed potatoes.

"This is amazing! Who made this?" I asked.

"I did."

I looked up to see whose mouth that came from to discover that it came from Percy. Simultaneously, me and Nico got up and ran to the garbage spitting out everything in our mouth. Behind us everyone was hysterically laughing except Percy.

"I was kidding actually it was Annabeth and Juliet. But I'm very offended that that's how you reacted when you thought it was me."

"Oh Seaweed Brain face it you can't cook. That's just another reason you could add to all the other as to why you should be dating Annabeth," Nico told him.

Once again there was a round of laughter but this time I was laughing too and Percy and Annabeth weren't. They just sat there looking at their plates, faces red as can be. At that moment the horn honked and we all knew what that meant. We had reached Washington D.C.


	8. Chapter 8

Annabeth POV

We all went to our rooms to change for D.C. We weren't planning on staying in a hotel this time so the only things I had to worry about bringing were my wallet and phone. I put on a pair of jeans, a light blue t shirt, and my converse. Once I got dressed, I put my hair in a ponytail and went downstairs to wait for everyone else. As I was sitting down on the couch, I saw the door to the kitchen open and Percy walked out. As soon as he saw me he smiled at me and sat down next to me.

"So you excited for D.C.?" he asked.

"Very! I can't wait to see all of the buildings."

"Where do you think we should go first?"

"Well there are so many places! The Capital Building, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, plus all of the museums. And it's terrible that we only have three days here cause that means we can't go to all of them."

"Hahah well Athena always has a plan Wisegirl. I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out so we can see the best ones."

I blushed at that. Percy always made me feel special somehow. If anyone else had said that it wouldn't have had the same affect on me. Sure I would have been pleased but the fact that Percy said it pleased me even more.

"Thanks Seaweed Brain."

"No probs," he said with a smile.

"Would you two flirt somewhere else please?"

We turned around to see Connor and Juliet walking down the stairs hand in hand.

"We weren't flirting," muttered Percy.

"Yeah and I'm a Titan."

Both Percy and I turned red and Connor smirked. Just then everyone else came downstairs so we walked out of the RV.

I thought up a plan in my head. There are the three buildings I thought we should visit plus the Newseum, the Smithsonian, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

"Hey guys I have a plan," I told everyone.

"I told you," Percy said while smirking.

"Do you wanna hear it or not Seaweed Brain?"

"Did we not just establish that the flirting would be done somewhere else?"

"SHUT UP CONNOR!" Percy and I screamed at the same time.

"Haha go on Annabeth what is it?" asked Thalia.

Gods I was angry and I could tell Percy was too cause his face was really red. Unless he was blushing.

I rolled my eyes and told them my plan.

"Since we're gunna be here for three days and there are three buildings and three museums I think we should see, why don't we visit one building and one museum each day? We could have lunch in between each one."

"Sounds good. Where should we go first?" said Katie.

"How about today we do the Newseum and then the Lincoln Memorial?"

Everyone else nodded and we called a taxi to take us to the Newseum. (I realize that the six places they're gunna go to aren't like this close or whatever but we're gunna pretend they are for the sake of my sanity. Thank you ;p)

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In the taxi Percy POV

I was currently in one of the two taxis that were driving us to the Newseum. In this one, Connor was sitting shotgun with Travis, Katie, Annabeth, and myself in the back while Silena, Beckendorf, Thalia, Nico and Juliet were in the other taxi. The taxi driver said it was only a fifteen minute drive so we should be there in like five minutes. At least, I hoped it would be cause I was squished in between Travis and Annabeth. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't mind being this close to Annabeth but right now, in a dirty taxi cab where the heat is pumping even though it's sixty degrees and Travis flicking at my ear, I just wanted to get the hell out. Annabeth didn't seem to mind anything though. She was in her own world looking out the window at everything we're passing.

It finally dawned on me in the last two days that I needed to tell her how I felt. But every time I tried to I got nervous and I choked cause I've been thinking what if she doesn't like me back. I mean I know I kissed her like a night ago but we were playing Spin the Bottle so it's not like she could say no. But then there were the times in the Big House back at camp and Waffle Cabin in Vermont when we came so close but were interrupted. I was really caught between a rock and a hard spot cause I really didn't know what to think. And then there was the whole issue of the chances of losing her as my best friend and even though I'm crazy about her I don't know if I want the chance of destroying what we have already. Now as I was thinking all of this we pulled up to the Newseum, but me being, well, me I had no idea until Annabeth smacked my shoulder telling me that everyone else was inside already.

"Gods Seaweed Brain get out of your little world and wake up we're here and everyone else is waiting."

"OK OK I'm coming Wisegirl no need to be pushy," I snapped.

All of a sudden she turned on me and her eyes reflected the darkest grey I think I've ever seen in my life.

"What did you just say to me?"

"Uh er I-I said then we should hurry up and go in cause I'm so excited?" I offered weakly.

She narrowed her eyes at me and she turned around.

I instantly felt guilty and knew that I would have to apologize for that but I figured I would do it later and I followed her. We met up with the rest of the group in the lobby and we thought it would be best if we split up like we did in Vermont.

"OK I guess that works," Annabeth started clearly annoyed that she would be stuck with me. "Then we'll meet back here in two hours so we could go eat. I know it's not a lot of time but since we started sightseeing later than we will tomorrow and the day after we can't spend much time in this museum if we wanna see the Lincoln Memorial."

Everyone else left and it was just me and Annabeth who I think was still angry with me.

"Hey Annabeth. I'm sorry about before. I was just really deep in thought about something important so I snapped without meaning to."

She looked at me curiously. "What were you thinking about?"

Oh crap! I shouldn't have even said anything more than sorry! Now I had absolutely no idea what to say.

"Um nothing don't worry."

But she wasn't gunna let it go.

"Don't give me that Seaweed Brain. What were you thinking about?"

I looked down at my shoes and felt myself blushing.

"Percy."

I looked up right away when I noticed that her voice was filled with fright and seriousness (that's a word right?).

"What?"

She pointed over my shoulder and I turned around to see two dracnae with two swords each coming towards us.

"We got this no sweat Wisegirl. One for me, one for you."

She nodded her head a pulled out her knife as I took out Riptide. We stood side by side until I charged at the closest one. I rolled underneath her first swipe and came up on my knee stabbing her stomach. But before it made contact she blocked away with second sword and came at me again with the first. I jumped out of the way and stood up facing her. 'OK,' I thought. 'Since I'm not gunna win on the offense I need to win on defense.' The dracnae came towards me swinging both swords and I deflected each one as fast as I could. Eventually, I managed to hook my blade tip around one of her sword's hilts and I pulled it back taking the sword right out of her hand and sending it onto the floor behind me. I then drove towards her knowing I could take her. I swung at her with a swing that would have decapitated her if she hadn't blocked it. I then quickly brought Riptide back around and stabbed her in the stomach. This time she didn't have the other sword to block it so she turned into gold dust. I turned my head to see the other dracnae looking around confused and I realized that Annabeth must have put on her invisibility cap. Soon enough, the dracnae turned into dust and I saw Annabeth reappear in front of it.

"You OK Wisegirl?" I asked her.

"Yeah I'm fine. You?"

"I'm good. Let's go look at some exhibits." I said hoping she would forget about what we were talking about.

Her face brightened up. "Yeah come on I wanna go see some of the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 gallery."

"Sounds good."

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, she started running towards the elevators. I ran after her and made it inside the elevator right before it closed.

"Well someone's certainly excited," I said to Annabeth.

She stuck her tongue at me but didn't say anything. The elevators opened up and we walked to the opposite side of the museum in silence. Once on the other side, we looked over a railing to see the largest piece of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany.

"Woah that's really cool," I said.

"Isnt it?" Annabeth asked. She then started giving a full out lecture about the Berlin Wall and blah blah this and blah blah that. I loved Annabeth obviously but even I couldn't listen to a whole lecture. So I just zoned out and looked at all the graffiti on it until I saw that we could go closer to it from the floor underneath us.

"Um Annabeth," I interrupted. "Not that what your saying isn't interesting or anything but I think we could go up closer to it from the floor underneath us."

"Seriously? I thought that it was liked blocked off or whatever."

"No I don't think so. Look, there's openings right underneath us and to the right."

"Oh your right. Well what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!"

Once again she took off towards the elevators and I just made it. She pressed the button that would take us to the first floor and we were off. As soon as the doors opened she ran over to the exhibit.

It looked so much cooler up close. Eight pieces were all lined up next to each other each with a different picture graffitied on. This time when Annabeth started talking I actually tried to listen. I found out that the Berlin Wall was originally just fences and barbed wire that were put up in 1961 but then they were replaced with concrete walls later on.

I looked at my watch to see that an hour had already passed.

"Annabeth, we only have another hour let's go check out some other stuff on our way to the 9/11 gallery."

She looked upset that we would have to leave already but started walking none the less.

On our way to the 9/11 gallery, we passed a huge helicopter that was in the museum, a space shuttle, and the exhibit Covering Katrina where we spent another fifteen minutes reading articles. Well actually Annabeth read, I just stood there and looked at the pictures. Finally, we reached the 9/11 gallery with a half hour left before we had to meet everyone. There was an oldish looking thing in the middle with a bunch of articles and pictures on the wall behind it.

"Hey Wisegirl. What's this thing in the middle?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "That thing, Seaweed Brain is the broadcast antenna that was on the North Tower."

"Oh OK."

I walked over to articles and actually read them. They were really interesting but sad at the same time. I started to tear up while I was reading my eighth article when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Annabeth and she was in tears too. This exhibit was having a really big impact on me and I could see it was on Annabeth too so I pulled her into a hug. I felt her hot tears staining my shirt but I could care less. I put my head on top of hers and rubbed her back soothingly trying to calm her down. We stood there together for a couple of minutes before she pulled away from me, wiping her tears away embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Percy. Stuff like this just gets to me," she said looking down.

"It's OK. It happens to me too," I told her with a small smile.

She returned the smile and told me that we should go meet up with everyone. We walked away from the gallery and went to the lobby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the lobby Travis POV

Me and Katie had a great time together. We went to the the Berlin Wall, the First Amendment Gallery, a Tribute to journalists who've died, and the 9/11 Gallery where we saw Percy and Annabeth hugging. But this time we didn't interfere because Annabeth seemed really sad. I had also snuck away to the gift shop to buy Katie something. I had gotten her a really cool Washington D.C. snow globe. It had a wooden base that was brown on the bottom and blue on top. The words Washington D.C. were written in golden lettering on the brown. There were also pictures of different places in D.C. In the glass ball there was the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument. Each time you shook it white flakes would fall on top of them giving the impression that it was snowing, hence the name, snow globe. I really hoped that she liked it.

We were alone together in the lobby because we were ten minutes early. I didn't know when I would be alone with Katie again so I pulled out the snow globe which was wrapped up in tissue paper and put in a small paper bag from the gift shop.

"Here Katie I got something for you," I told her with a smile while holding out the bag.

She looked at it suspiciously. "Is this a prank or something Stoll?"

I felt bad that she was automatically suspicious. "What? I'm not allowed to be serious for once and buy a present for my favorite girl in the whole wide world?"

"Well you can't blame me for wondering," she said while blushing.

"I guess not. But still take it."

She took the bag from my hand and unwrapped the snow globe. She looked at in awe.

"Travis this is beautiful! Thank you!"

I smiled real big and told her it was no big deal. She came towards me and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I immediately returned it, wanting to cherish it. I didn't even realize that Nico, Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth were here until Thalia said something.

"Awwww isn't that adorable," Thalia teased.

I shot her a glare thinking of how red I must be. At Thalia's voice, Katie pulled away from me blushing too. I gave her a small smile and she returned it. I felt butterflies all in stomach and my heart started beating faster.

"Oh look here's Connor, Juliet, Silena, and Beckendorf," Percy said. "Let's go get lunch."

Our little gang walked out of the front door. Everyone holding hands except for me, Katie, Percy, and Annabeth. I knew that Percy was crazy about Annabeth and that Annabeth felt the same so it was only a matter of time be fore they got together. But I knew that Katie didn't like me so nothing could happen there. We called another two cabs and told them to bring us to the place with the best burgers in D.C. They both looked at each other and smiled and we jumped into our cabs and went to eat.


	9. Chapter 9

We paid the taxis and walked into the diner the drivers recommended. It was small but cozy with booths along the side walls and tables in the middle in the back there was a bar/counter with stools to sit at.

We walked up to the hostess and she sat us a table for nine. None of us bothered to look at the menus because we already knew what we wanted. When the waitress came we all ordered a cheeseburger with fries except for Silena who got a plain salad. Cue eye roll from every other girl here including me. Lunch passed by quickly because we were all starving and no one really said anything except for pass the ketchup. Soon enough the check came and we left. We called over some taxis and spent another fifteen minutes in silence until we reached the Lincoln Memorial. As soon as Annabeth got out, she started jumping up and down like crazy.

"Come on guys hurry up let's go I wanna go inside!"

Percy went over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy Annabeth. It's still gunna be there after the five minutes it takes us to get up there."

"Oh shut up Seaweed Brain your the only ready so come on."

At that Annabeth grabbed his hand and started running up the stairs with Percy trailing behind.

The rest of us got out and followed them a bit slower. About half way up I felt Nico intertwine his hand in mine.

"Hey Thals," he said with a smile.

I found myself subconsciously smiling back. "Hey! Ready to hear Annabeth go on and on about the architecture of this place?"

"Hahaha I just figured I would tune her out."

"Haha good plan."

Together we walked up rest of the stairs to hear Annabeth starting her rant.

"Those pillars look really nice there, but if I had designed it I would have..."

And I tuned her out. Percy actually seemed to be listening though because he was responding to things that she was saying and nodding his head like he understood. Woah! He should definitely spend more time with Annabeth. It's as if her smarticles rub off on him.

I walked over to the giant statue of Lincoln sitting on a chair and gazed up at him. I felt myself zoning out everything around me until I heard a scream.

I whipped my head around sword and Aegis already out to see a group of telekhines coming towards us and surrounding us. Percy was charging into battle with Riptide and I saw Annabeth disappear knife in hand. Nico summoned his sword and went in right after Percy and Travis and Katie and Beckendorf and Silena were standing back to back armed ready to defend. I was searching for Connor and Juliet when I finally saw them outside of our little circle of friends. Connor had his sword out and started hacking his way to the middle while Juliet ran away to try and stay safe.

I charged into battle and let my senses take over. I dodged, swiped, ducked, lunged, and blocked until I was totally out of breath. By that time all of the telekhines were gone and all of us stood together in the middle of the memorial except for Juliet who was hopefully waiting outside. As soon as I thought that, Connor ran outside calling her name. We all ran after him and made it just in time to see Juliet run into Connor's arms.

"Awwwwwww," we all cooed, well all of us except for Nico and Beckendorf.

Connor rolled his eyes at us and singled out his brother who was the loudest.

"Oh please Travis if that had been Katie instead of Juliet the same thing would have happened."

"Yeah I know. What's your point?"

We all stared at him in shock including Katie who was blushing furiously.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" he asked getting offended.

Katie stepped up to him.

"Y-You just said that you would have reacted the same if it was me."

"Well yeah of course I would Katie," he replied getting closer to her.

"Why?"

At that, Travis closed the distance and kissed Katie. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hers went around his neck. I heard Silena squeel and jump in the air while Annabeth was smiling really big. Finally they came apart, foreheads touching.

"Does that answer your question Katie-Kat?"

She smiled really big before answering. "Yeah I guess it does."

Travis laughed and turned around and looked at Percy who was conveniently drinking some water at the time.

"Your the last one to admit your feelings bro. Might as well tell Annabeth your in love with her now."

And then Percy is spitting out water and spluttering like an idiot while Annabeth stared back and forth between him and Travis.

"I-I w-what?" Percy got out.

We all laughed at him and shook our heads at his idioticness.

"Well guys what now? Wanna head back to the RV or chill here?" Beckendorf asked.

"Annabeth you decide. Have anything else you wanna do here?" I asked.

"Oh er no we can go," she said still in shock.

We all walked down the street looking for cabs. Beckendorf and Silena in front followed by Katie and Travis then Connor and Juliet, Nico and I, and lastly, our happy little soon to be couple if Percy grew balls anytime soon. Beckendorf whistled and a couple more taxis came over. We hopped in and told them the street where the RV was. Once out, the boys went to the TV and myself and the other girls went up to our room.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Same time Percy POV**

Man was I mad! This was the second time Travis did something extremely stupid to me and I was gunna murder him. Just as he sat down and the girls were out of sight I jumped on top of him.

"WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT STOLL!" I screamed in his face.

"Calm down Perce. I'm setting you up for when you ask her out."

"Well I was actually going to do something like that tonight but now I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because then it'll just look like I did it because you said that."

"Then let's make a sick plan for you and her for lunch tomorrow and you'll ask her then. OK?"

I thought about it for a little bit.

"OK fine."

He gave me a lopsided grin and shoved me off of him.

"Yo Beckendorf, Connor, and Nico come here."

"Sup Perce?"

"It's planning time."


End file.
